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I have taken back every little negative thing I thought about GD Maria Teresa. After seeing her in interviews and giving speeches, I changed my tune. She really does seem to be a caring, down-to-earth person. She has a lovely voice too.

I am also glad that she doesn't fit the "mold." She is plump but clearly proud of her body, and when she is dressed up she exudes confidence. She seems to be accepting of the changes that come with aging. She is very, very lovely.

Today I was cleaning out a drawer in my dining room and came across an old "Hello!" magazine from May 28, 2002. This issue has an interview with Maria Teresa following her first visit to Cuba since her emigration at age three.* (She has been back one additional time since then.) Here are a few questions that I thought were interesting.

How did you meet Grand Duke Henri?MT: "He went to study Political Science in Geneva and stayed at the house of a family who were close friends of both his parents and of my parents. Javier, the family's eldest son, was a great friend of mine, who knew that I was about to start the same course. One day he said to me: 'We have a very special guest coming this September. He is going to start at the university and he'll be a little lost. It would be great if you could help him with all the paperwork, hang out with him ...' I said: 'A special guest? Who are you talking about?' He replied, 'It's the Hereditary Grand Duke of Luxembourg.' The first time I saw my husband I felt my heart skip a beat. I began to hang out with him and help him at university. The result was we fell in love and went out for five years. It was kept absolutely secret - from our friends, our parents, the whole world. My parents had him round for dinner every evening, but it was a complete secret. That's why, when our engagement was announced, no one here [in Luxembourg] was expecting it in the slightest."

It is said that your in-laws, the Grand Duke Jean and Grand Duchess Josephine-Charlotte. were not too keen on the relationship. Is that true?MT: "Not at all! They were adorable and accepted me immediately. A lot of rubbish has been written about our engagement. It was also said that my husband's grandmother, the Grand Duchess Charlotte, didn't accept me. It's not true. She was fabulous."

You left the island [of Cuba] at the age of three. As a result, you can't have many memories of it.MT: "I thought I wouldn't have any, but in fact when I arrived at my parents' house the memories flooded back. The house is now rented to the Ambassador of Qatar and I was kindly allowed to visit ... A few childhood memories were awoken. I remembered exactly where my father's bathroom was, ... a staircase that use to frighten me terribly, ... and in the kitchen, a type of display case where my father kept some Cuban biscuits that I loved."

*For this first visit, Maria Teresa was accompanied by Prince Felix, Prince Louis, her sister Catalina, and her niece, Catarina. On the second trip, she went with GD Henri, Prince Sebastien, and Princess Alexandra. I am not aware if Prince Guillaume has been to Cuba.

Was Maria Teresa lying through her back teeth in that interview when she said her inlaws were 'adorable' and accepted her immediately, then? She certainly didn't think J-C was sweet and lovely when she gave that teary press conference years later. Were things OK at first and then disintegrated later, perhaps? It's a bit of a strange interview really, in that regard.

Was Maria Teresa lying through her back teeth in that interview when she said her inlaws were 'adorable' and accepted her immediately, then? She certainly didn't think J-C was sweet and lovely when she gave that teary press conference years later. Were things OK at first and then disintegrated later, perhaps? It's a bit of a strange interview really, in that regard.

I do think that things were ok at first. By all accounts Josephine-Charlotte supported Henri, as she wanted him to marry for love, unlike herself. And then, what bad could be said about Maria Teresa ... perfectly raised by conservative, wealthy, Roman Catholic parents. She was pretty, well-educated, and accomplished.

Somehow things went terribly wrong. Some think that it was due to the fact that J-C was never popular with the Luxembourg people, whereas Maria Teresa was embraced for her warmth and outgoing personality. And Josephine-Charlotte knew how to hold a grudge. Her son, Prince Jean, once said in a PdV interview that his parents refused to attend his sons' christenings as a matter of principle. (The principle being that his first child was born out of wedlock.) His siblings supported him by attending without their parents.

They certainly seem to have been very straitlaced in their opinions. Perhaps J-C was fine with Henri marrying for love so long as it was love with a girl from the aristocracy of Western Europe, a 'little brown one' or whatever she called MT, was a step too far. Or maybe it was just a personality clash that got worse over the years . I think MT can be fiery at times. Either way, MT certainly seems to have changed her mind between this interview and the press conference!